Pea Plot Pulled

So I was going to title this one "You dooze you lose," but I figured that was a little to crass even for my tastes. My peas reached the end of harvest sometime last week while I was quarantined in the bathroom with a stomach virus, so now I have a pail full of overripe peas. The only thing these are good for is replanting, so I will shell them, let them dry out and save them for the fall or next spring. Anyone who'd like free peas for planting, give me a holler. They are just about the most easy thing to grow and require very little attention - just timely picking.

I'm a very young gardener, young in that I have only been gardening a couple years. The mistake I make time and time again is allowing something that is not producing well, or producing something that I don't like to keep growing in my garden. It seems harmless enough, but when I thought about it, those plants I no longer enjoy are taking up space, water, and nutrients that I could devote to something else. Last year, my neighbor grew tons and tons of squash. I have no idea how much he froze, but he said his storage freezer was full and he didn't want anymore. One day I went outside and he was pulling up these perfectly healthy, still producing squash plants. I was a little shocked. Sure, perhaps he could have donated the extra produce to a charity, but you know what, he was done with squash and had every right to pull up those plants.

Today, I pulled up all my peas and nearly all the lettuce. I have yet to even try the lettuce. My fridge is full of it, so I will at least make one salad before giving the rest away. But the fact of the matter is, I am done with peas and lettuce. I'm not a huge lettuce person anyhow - unless it's on a turkey sandwich (not allowed to eat deli meats during pregnancy) or unless it's couple with some chopped up fried chicken, hard boiled eggs, fresh tomatoes and peppers, cheese, and ranch dressing. I mainly planted the lettuce because I had several old packets of seed and thought, "Why not?" Well I now know I can grow lettuce and if my tastes change, I'll plant the spring mix in shady planters and the romaine in the nice boxes and whatever that curly stuff was in a shady planter as well.

The best part? I have a new, unused garden bed that I can fill with something yummy or just something pretty. I haven't decided yet.

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I pulled up all my peas yesterday too. And the lettuce is long-gone; I pulled the remaining plants and gave them to a vegetarian friend who's going to put them in his window boxes. I've decided snow peas are the only peas I shall ever grow again in any quantity, and even those will be limited to a few vines. I allowed those huge, heavy vines to take up HALF of my large raised bed, and I'm so glad to be done with them. In their place are strawberry plants, okras, butternut squash, watermelon, pumpkins and a previously overcrowded tomato. Now my tom's can breathe! Yay for ripping things out of the garden we don't LOVE!

I'm not a huge lettuce person either and I just pulled up our plants to make room for some geraniums. BUT I have become a fan of lettuce or spinach on peanut butter sandwiches. It gives it a little crunch and is healthier than adding potato chips.